DOL Gets Boost

Division One League (DOL), which is scheduled to commence on April 12, 2008, has received a boost in the form of sponsorship to the clubs.

This was disclosed by President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi at the Conference Hall of the GFA, where the DOL Board met various clubs to outline programmes and provide them with fixtures for the league.

Speaking to the press, Mr. Nyantakyi said the clubs should be assured that his outfit would secure sponsorship that would take care of officiating fees and possibly some funds to be shared among the DOL clubs like it was done for the country's Premiership teams.

He warned clubs and officials who condoned violence on the part of supporters during matches to desist from such acts.

Mr. Nyantakyi who had been in the DOL Board for the past seven years, revealed that 28 matches of the DOL would be beamed on TV this season- four matches would be shown live during the league and four when the middle league starts, while 20 other matches would be recorded and shown later. He said the matches to be beamed would only be those that are played at El-Wak Stadium, Tema Stadium and Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra.

“Monies come to the clubs through Television and it would not be nice to encourage violence during the forthcoming league. For so many years, the FA has decided to change the structure of the middle league,” he stressed.

He asked officials of the DOL to ensure that the laws of the game were strictly enforced.

According to Ntow Fianko, Chairman of the DOL, each team was supposed to pay ¢23 million as officiating fee this season, stressing that the FA started paying the fees for clubs in 1996, and last season, the governing body spent ¢2 billion, as it bore all the expenditure for the middle league.

This season the FA would spend ¢1.2 billion which would not cover the middle league matches, he added.

By Pierre Toto